CapitaLand Opens $1.1B Geneo Life Sciences Hub at Singapore Science Park

CapitaLand Group has officially opened its S$1.4 billion ($1.1 billion) Geneo life sciences and innovation hub at Singapore Science Park in Queenstown, marking the latest milestone in the Temasek-backed builder’s rejuvenation of the city-state’s first research and development park.

The project, which CapitaLand launched three years ago, comprises three properties at 1 Science Park Drive, 5 Science Park Drive and 7 Science Park Drive spanning 180,600 square metres (1.9 million square feet) of gross floor area.

Geneo includes 80,000 square metres of purpose-built infrastructure for biomedical R&D, flexible laboratories and Grade A business park workspaces, as the group seeks to capture demand from life sciences, technology and research occupiers.

“Geneo is a defining milestone in the rejuvenation of SSP,” CapitaLand Development CEO Jonathan Yap said Friday in a release. “As a life sciences and innovation hub, it supports the full innovation cycle, from research through to commercialisation, within an integrated environment.”

Shared Ownership

Geneo is jointly held by CapitaLand Development and SGX-listed CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, with the wholly owned development arm holding a 66 percent stake in 1 Science Park Drive and full ownership of 7 Science Park Drive, while CLAR owns the remaining 34 percent of 1 Science Park Drive and all of 5 Science Park Drive.

The 1 Science Park Drive campus accounts for 112,600 square metres of gross floor area across three buildings, with wet labs and wet-lab-ready floors on the lower levels and business park workspace above.

The 5 Science Park Drive building provides 25,600 square metres of business park space across six levels, while 7 Science Park Drive comprises 38,800 square metres of business park workspace and serviced residence space operated as Citadines Science Park Singapore.

Geneo has attracted tenants including Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Swiss-Belgian chocolatier Barry Callebaut, Japan’s Chugai Pharmabody Research and German chemical giant Henkel, spanning sectors from pharmaceutical R&D and biotech to food innovation and advanced manufacturing, according to the announcement.

The hub also includes Bridge+ Geneo, a flexible workspace platform with NSG BioSuites, which CapitaLand described as its first co-working laboratory facility and Southeast Asia’s largest co-working lab at more than 3,200 square metres.

Queenstown Cluster

CLAR added 5 Science Park Drive to its portfolio last year through a S$245 million acquisition from a CapitaLand private trust, part of a S$700.2 million package that also included a data centre at 9 Tai Seng Drive. The six-storey building serves as the headquarters of e-commerce player Shopee, which leased the property’s full 22,488 square metres of net lettable area before completion.

CLAR’s stake in 1 Science Park Drive traces back to a joint venture announced in 2021, when CapitaLand Development and the REIT agreed to redevelop the former TUV SUD PSB site into a life sciences and innovation campus targeting biomedical and technology tenants.

The trust has continued to deepen its Queenstown exposure this year, announcing in March that it would buy a 50 percent interest in Ascent at nearby 2 Science Park Drive as part of S$1.4 billion in acquisitions spanning Singapore, Australia and Japan.

The Ascent deal gives CLAR a half-stake in a seven-storey business park property with 43,000 square metres of net lettable area and 55.5 years left on its leasehold term, extending the REIT’s footprint in a precinct where it already controls 4.5 million square feet of business park and life sciences space.